Asynchronous messaging and communication in a social networking system

Abstract

The present disclosure is for systems and methods for asynchronous communication within a social networking system. Specifically, the present invention is for receiving capsuled data that is directed to a recipient. The capsuled data may be partially viewable by a recipient within the social networking system, but may not become fully viewable until a trigger condition is met. The systems and methods disclosed herein enable a determination of whether a trigger condition is met, and, if it is met, the capsuled data may be fully viewable by a recipient.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer program product for delivering and displaying capsuled digital data, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
 receive capsuled digital data, the capsuled digital data comprising recipient information, release agent information, digital data to display to a recipient, and trigger event information for digitally releasing the capsuled digital data to the recipient, the trigger event information comprising a trigger event that must be met in order to release the capsuled digital data to the recipient;   determine whether the trigger event is met, the determining based, at least in part, on a relationship-based release engine identifying when a distance between two or more relationships indicates that the recipient is added to a social group; and   provide the capsuled digital data to the recipient upon determining that the trigger event is met.   
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the distance between the two or more relationships in the social group comprises generating a family tree of users within the social group. 
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the distance between the two or more relationships in the social group is defined, at least in part, by a relationship between two or more members of a family. 
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the social group is limited to family members of an individual who created the capsuled digital data. 
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a partially viewable version of the capsuled digital data, the partially viewable version including a blurred version of an image contained in the capsuled digital data.   
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 5 , wherein the blurred version of the image is displayed to the recipient when determining whether the trigger event is met. 
     
     
         7 . A computer-implemented method for delivering and displaying capsuled digital data, the computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving capsuled digital data and a condition that must be met in order to release the capsuled digital data to a recipient, the condition based at least in part, on two or more individuals confirming a truth source   notifying the recipient that capsuled message digital data has been created for the recipient;   determining whether the condition is met; and   providing the capsuled digital data to the recipient upon determining that the condition is met.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the capsuled digital data is generated by a sender within a social networking system. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the capsuled digital data includes recipient information for identifying the recipient within the social networking system. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the capsulated digital data includes release agent information for identifying a release agent within the social networking system. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein determining whether the condition is met is executed by using an application programming interface. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the capsuled digital data is released if the recipient is at or near a location that is provided by a location based release trigger that is included in the capsuled digital data. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the capsuled digital data includes a release agent to release the capsuled digital data posthumously after death of a sender of the capsuled digital data. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 13 , wherein the capsuled digital data includes release agent identity information of at least one release agent who is a user within a social networking system. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 receiving a release authorization from the at least one release agent;   notifying the sender that a release authorization has been received from the at least one release agent, the notification comprising a cancellation election within a graphical user interface enabling the sender to cancel the release of capsuled digital data;   contacting the sender through a communications means outside of the social networking system if the sender has requested additional contact attempts, the contact enabling the sender to provide a cancellation election to cancel the release of capsuled digital data; and   sending the capsuled digital data to the intended recipient if a cancellation election is not received from the sender within a pre-determined period of time.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein the truth source comprises social networking feeds of the two or more individuals. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , wherein confirming the truth source comprises verifying an occurrence of a trigger event in social networking feeds of the two or more individuals. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 17 , wherein verifying the occurrence of the trigger event comprises monitoring social networking feeds of the two or more individuals. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 17 , wherein verifying the occurrence of the trigger event comprises monitoring trending topics in the social networking feeds of the two or more individuals. 
     
     
         20 . An apparatus for delivering and displaying capsuled digital data, comprising:
 a memory; and   at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:
 receive a capsuled message and a condition that must be met in order to release the capsuled digital data to the a recipient, the condition based, at least in part, on two or more individuals confirming a truth source; 
 notify the recipient that the capsuled message has been created for the recipient; 
 determine whether the condition is met; and 
 provide the capsuled message to the recipient upon determining that the condition is met.